TPG PSLink® est un produit middleware reconnu pour l’échange des données entre PPM, ERP et d’autres systèmes existants. Il permet l’échange bidirectionnel de données entre Microsoft Project Server, SharePoint et de nombreux modules SAP. Le produit a été lancé il y a plus de 20 ans. Depuis, il a évolué et s’est amélioré pour s’aligner avec les meilleures pratiques de l’industrie.
L’intégration de SAP avec Microsoft Project, SharePoint et d’autres systèmes existants est un facteur essentiel qui contribue à l’utilisation efficace et à l’acceptance d’une solution de gestion de projets. Cela garantit en effet que les équipes, y compris les chefs de projets, les chefs d’équipes, et les comptables, aient la possibilité de travailler avec l’outil le plus adapté à leur rôle et qu’ils puissent avoir en permanence accès aux données qui les intéressent dans les autres systèmes. TPG PSLink procure un échange de données multidirectionnel tout en garantissant la cohérence dans données synchronisées entre les différents systèmes.
Les Avantages d’une Intégration SAP avec Microsoft Project
TPG a un nombre grandissant de clients TPG PSLink® à travers le monde, allant de petites mises en œuvre à des gros projets internationaux. Qu’est-ce qui différencie ce middleware de l’intégration des autres solutions d’intégration SAP ? Au cours de 20 dernières années, le produit a été utilisé pour gérer des dizaines de milliers de projets valant plus de $100 Milliards.
| Module SAP | Type d’Intégration de Données |
|---|---|
| Ressources Humaines (RH) & CATS | - Noms des Ressources |
| Gestion des Projets/Project Systems (PS) | - Eléments du WBS (Jalon WBS) |
Gestion de la Maintenance &
| - Centres Fonctionnels |
| Contrôle (CO) | - Eléments de Coûts |
| Ventes & Distribution / Sales and Distribution (SD) | - Master Data |
| Gestion de l’Equipement / Material Maintenance (MM) | - Bons de Commande |
| Plateforme de Data Warehousing / Business Warehouse (BW) | - Exécution à distance des requêtes BW |
| Project Portfolio Management (PPM) | - Projets |
“En intégrant Project Server avec SAP via TPG PSLink, nous avons pu réduire le temps nécessaire pour réaliser notre planification budget de 3 semaines/hommes à 1 jour/homme.”
Helmut Kölbl, Senior Program Manager, Harman International
One of the simplest use cases is to synchronize the top level of a project plan with SAP. This gives the controlling department a good overview, and the project manager still has a lot of freedom in planning the details in Microsoft PPM.
Depending on the requirements, it is possible to transfer any kind of structure can from Microsoft PPM to SAP. In this case, country-specific tasks are transported in the second level. The transfer of further levels is possible at any time. Further aggregations via any structural characteristics or cost elements can also be configured.
As part of planning and updating the budget, it is a great help for project managers and controllers if the project data can be transferred according to the structures at the push of a button. In many companies, this has to be done monthly. The integration brings a correspondingly high ROI. This recurring benefit contributes a lot to the acceptance of an integration of Microsoft PPM with SAP.
In many companies, the actual hours worked on projects have to be billed either internally or externally. To do this, it is necessary to transfer these from the PPM system to SAP at the end of periods. In SAP, further allocation is then made to sales orders or internally between the performing and receiving cost centers. With the appropriate integration, this process can take place overnight at the end of each month. The integration provides a very high benefit thanks to fast and error-free data transfer.
If project managers also have to manage external costs in their projects, they will be happy about the automatic direct transfer of actual costs from SAP to their project. In this case, the incoming invoice values are transferred directly to the previously planned cost elements at task level in the PPM system. With this integration solution, it is possible to accelerate and simplify the communication process significantly. It ensures that project managers always have up-to-date cost information, which they urgently need to control their projects.
“The Vaillant Group runs projects with mixed teams across various R&D sites. The correct distribution of actual work from the Microsoft PPM system into SAP company codes is handled by TPG PSLink automatically, in accordance with country specific accounting rules.The whole integrated system gives us a very deep level of insight that improves project management efficiency throughout the company.”
Jörn Fritsche, Project Manager R&D Support,
Vaillant Group
> Read whole Vaillant case study (PDF)
“By integrating Project Server with SAP using TPG PSLink, we were able to reduce the time needed for our regular budget planning from three man-weeks to one man-day.”
Helmut Kölbl, Sr. Program Manager,
Harman International
> Read whole Harman case study (PDF)
“With their TPG PSLink product, TPG was able to implement all our SAP integration requirements down to the last detail.”
Dr. Klaus Schoepe, Senior Vice President Projects,
Rentschler Biotechnologie
“We chose TPG for the excellent quality of their PSLink product but also due to PSLink’s very good cost-benefit ratio.”
Bill Courcha, Chairman of MAS Planning Monitoring and Control Working Group,
BAE British Aerospace
“The implementation of Microsoft Project Server and the TPG PSLink interface product has enabled us to create the right foundation for modern multi-project and resource management.”
Manuel Sachs, Project Planning Manager, BU Power Plants,
MAN Diesel & Turbo
“Lonza's new Microsoft Project Server solution with TPG PSLink for SAP integration and TPG ProjectLink for multi-project management enhancements has also made collaboration easier – especially between teams and across different projects.”
Peter Zenk, Project Leader Global EPM Implementation,
Lonza
“With Project Server 2010 linked to SAP, we can gauge the financial success of projects, comparing actual with budgeted figures, and provide management with the ability to exert meaningful control.”
Jani Saarinen, Senior Manager in Research & Development,
Kemira
“The TPG solution currently automates some of our manual tasks. TPG ProjectLink aggregates all our detailed Microsoft Project plans into one overall project plan. TPG PSLink then transfers its structure and deadlines to SAP. The cost and work planning data from the detailed plans are directly integrated with SAP via TPG PSLink. This combination of products has made everything easier for us.”
Reiner Schwarz, Project Planning,
Airbus Defence & Space
In May 2009, TPG PSLink® Version 2010 passed the first Custom Certification Test by SAP and obtained the title “SAP® Certified – Integration with SAP Applications”. The product was recertified three times, for the 2013, 2016 and 2019 Versions, each enhanced with additional use cases. TPG PSLink® 2019 passed the recertification in May 2019, which is valid until May 3, 2022.
The scenarios chosen for the test were not SAP standard scenarios but “Third Party Integration Scenarios”. A certification of standard interface scenarios is technically related to individual SAP modules or functional groups. Instead, the Custom Certification chosen by TPG specifies the relevant use cases from a business perspective and tests all the appropriate SAP functions across all applicable modules.
SAP specified 19 use cases for TPG PSLink with 50 BAPI functions, covering 5 SAP modules. This type of certification goes significantly deeper than the standard but covers exactly those scenarios which are relevant to our customers.
Overall, SAP has certified 19 use cases covering 50 SAP business functions, known as BAPIs. These include use cases for:
The product also underwent performance and stress tests to verify its resilience when sharing large data volumes between SAP and other systems. Find more details on this SAP page.
“We believed it was very important to include as many relevant use cases as possible,” comments Stavros Georgantzis, managing partner at TPG The Project Group. “Our customer implementations are extensive and oriented to project, resource and portfolio management processes. These require links to various SAP modules, including sales & distribution, materials management, controlling and human resources, among others. The traditional project system is usually also a part of that, although not always. The message we’re sending to our customers is that the entire range of relevant SAP integration points has been certified.”
